(On how the team looked after the day off) – “I thought it was a little sluggish early, even actually inside it took them a while to get going when we were in there, but I thought overall there was a lot of good work today – good situations, good clock management situations. There was some good things for us as a staff the first time together. When are we going to call timeout or when are we going to kill the clock after a completion on what down and distance? What field position? Sometimes we kind of orchestrated things a little bit, not all the time, but a couple times we did just to kind of put us in different situations, talk to the staff. I don’t know if you noticed we had some live tackling for the first time. We didn’t have blocks below the waist, but we had some live tackling, which we felt was important…we’ve got to get a good sense. Sometimes I think you can get a false sense maybe of where you’re at or how good your running backs might be or how good your run defense might be. So we had some of that in there that we mixed in. We had practiced some short-yardage situations. We hadn’t done one in the red zone. We kind of inserted a live on there. I thought we got in a lot of good things and I thought the tempo was pretty good.”

(On if it’s realistic to expect a 1,000-yard receiving season by Chad Johnson this year) – “I like what I’ve seen. I like the energy that he brings. I think he’s caught the ball well. I think even in tight quarters he’s caught the ball well. I did notice a couple routes in the one-on-one that he ran today against press coverage that he kind of can put the stops on, put the breaks on at about 12 or 14. He’s made some contested catches that you like. Time will tell. I don’t necessarily have…we don’t have as a staff, A, he’s got to catch X amount of passes and gain X amount of yards. We don’t really have the team set yet. We’re not at that stage of game plans certain plays for certain people, but I do like what I see.”

(On the funniest thing Johnson has said to him) – “He likes football. This guy likes football a lot. He’ll pop in. I don’t know if he’s said anything overly funny. I mean he comes up to our meetings sometimes. He just wants to hang around. He’s a little bit of a gym rat in that regard, which is good. You know, you like players that like the game and he wants to know (more about the game). He’s not afraid of being coached. He has an opinion about a thing or two, which is good. I think that’s good for players to have an opinion on some of that stuff.”

(On if he’s nervous about Johnson speaking to the media) – “Not really. Everybody’s accountable for what comes out of their mouth. The players understand that. I‘m accountable for what I say as well. So I’m not overly that concerned.”

(On why Johnson can fit better here than in New England) – “Well, we’re still in the evaluation process. Again, we’re looking for a couple things at that position, specifically we’re looking for guys that can get separation against man-to-man coverage. We’re looking for guys who can possibly make plays on the ball down the field. We’re looking for guys that can win that one-on-one matchup so to speak. When he came in to work out, he showed us some things that look like, from an athletic standpoint, he had a lot of skill. We sat down and talked. I went through the whole presentation that I went through on April 10th with everybody and I shared with him what my expectations were. I shared with him what he should expect and told him, ‘You’re going to have an opportunity and nothing more.’ So far, he’s been good.”

(On how much Johnson helps the young secondary in practice) – “I think it’s good for those guys. The more competition, the better. You’re laying a foundation out here. We had I think in the first four practices 532 competitive snaps, whether it was seven-on-seven or team. There was a lot of repetition out there. The only way you can get better is by doing it in practice and obviously the better the players are that compete against one another that should elevate their game as well. It’s a process and I think the more good players you have on a team, the better.”

(On if tight end Les Brown looks like a football player or a basketball player playing football) – “At times. At times. I would say both. He’s certainly a young player. We all know he hasn’t been in pads. This is a new, kind of brave new world for him. You could probably watch a couple plays and say, ‘Boy this guy doesn’t fit in.’ Conversely, you could watch a couple plays and think he’s a five-year veteran. So I think there’s a little bit of both. I think how quickly he can eliminate those pictures or those film clips where he doesn’t look like an NFL player is going to go a long way to determining his future here.”

(On Johnson having his fingernails painted black) – “I didn’t notice that by the way. There are certain things that are important to me (laughing) – fingernail preference isn’t high on my list right now. I don’t think right now it’s a big deal. That’s an interesting tidbit though.”

(On if Johnson’s fingernail painting could be a concern later) – “We’ll see. We want these guys to ultimately, I told Mr. (Stephen) Ross, I told the players, we want these guys to represent the franchise the right way on and off the field. It’s not a complicated formula and the game of football itself isn’t complicated. Now, we want guys to act well, behave well, be good people. It’s not that hard. Use common sense. I don’t know if, black was probably a bad color for today. He probably should have used a light blue or something (laughing).”

(On if he’s ever had a player paint his fingernails) – “Yeah, I’ve seen some, maybe, toenails for sure I remember. I’ve seen a bunch of that. I’d have to check in the research on the fingernails, not sure about that one.”

(On if he’s pleased with the young safeties and if he’s thought of replacing Kelcie McCray who said he was going to have a foot procedure) – “I’ve got to watch the last play of practice. I’m not exactly sure what the coverage call was, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions on that because I was paying attention to other things. So I’m not pleased about the last play with the ball going over the top, but I think overall we’ve been getting good performance out there. It was good to have Chris (Clemons) back out there again. It’s a work in progress like a lot of the positions are on the team.”

(On Jimmy Wilson’s switch to safety) – “Well, I think he made a pretty good impact on special teams last year if I’m not mistaken. Early on, when we we’re working with him, really, before he got to a lot of the team stuff, I’ve used that term he kind of moves around like a football player. You know what I mean? Some of the guys that said he has pretty good instincts, he’s pretty physical even though he’s not the biggest guy and so getting him in the middle of the field and getting him maybe closer to the ball would suit his talents and what we’re looking for as well. I think, I know (defensive coordinator) Kevin (Coyle’s) been high on him, (defensive backs coach) Lou (Anarumo) and (assistant defensive backs coach) Blue (Adams) I think they’re both (high on him). I think he’s making a real nice transition.”

(On his evaluation of quarterback Ryan Tannehill so far) – “The one thing, it’s funny and I’ve told this to (assistant quarterbacks coach) Zac (Taylor) and (offensive coordinator) Mike (Sherman), he’s so under control at times that he doesn’t look like he has the greatest urgency on occasion. The poise thing, it’s really not a negative, but it’s almost, at times, it’s not like we’re having trouble with the 40-second clock and he’s not getting the plays off, but he’s so kind of cool and collected. He’s going to signal the route adjustment/ He’s going to tell these guys the protection adjustment and tell the back what to do, where your check-down is. He just kind of does it in a relaxed manner, which, again works for him. Some other quarterbacks are kind of herky-jerky, really operating fast. I think it will be good to get him into games and then he can really see a true 40-second clock. We do the best we can. You see we’ve got them out there. (We) do the best we can to simulate it, but it’s not exact. But other than that, I think he’s making really good progress and it’s really not a negative, but it’s just something that’s kind of the way he operates.”

# # #

Quarterback Matt Moore

(On what practice has been like now that Ryan Tannehill is sharing reps) – “It’s been great. I haven’t noticed a change. The coaches do a good job of letting us know the reps we’re getting, when we’re going in, so we’re all still getting a lot of reps. It’s good that he’s here getting his reps and learning and stuff like that, but for the other guys I think it’s been pretty much the same deal.”

(On working with Chad Johnson and whether he is one of the better receivers he has worked with) – “Yeah, it is early but Chad has been great. He’s a guy that loves football, he really does. He’s constantly asking questions, and I’m sure the coaches will tell you that he’s all over them at all times. So to work with a guy like that that is extremely interested and a guy with the accolades to still have that desire to get better and want to change his game is inspiring to be honest with you. He’s always working hard and to be an older guy in that room I think it’s showing our young receivers how to do it, but our chemistry and our relationship could not have gotten off to a better start.”

(On if he evaluates his performance after practice) – “Absolutely. Yeah there is a lot of self-talk at the quarterback position obviously so you’re constantly evaluating yourself as an individual, how you fit in on the team, changes and corrections you can make. Training camp, as well as any season, there’s going to be ups and downs but a lot of self-evaluating during practice, after practice, trying to be the best you can be.”

(On how he would evaluate himself thus far) – “I’m in the middle somewhere. I don’t know, I feel good. There are always things that I need to work on, but that’s what training camp is for, we’re still early on. If I can take a couple things each day and focus on those and change those and get better, then that will be good.”

(On how vocal Chad Johnson is on the field in terms of asking for the ball) – “Well obviously he wants the ball, he’s a wide receiver. They all want the ball. He’s good though. He understands the concepts, and he understands when he’s the primary, he understands when he has one-on-one coverage, and really be hollering for the ball then which is great. You want a guy that wants the ball. I don’t ever lack faith that he is going to make a play. He’s a guy that you can trust going to in a lot of situations and feel good about it.”

(On the funniest thing that Chad Jonhson has said thus far) – “The other night we were walking out because we had the day off, and I said ‘Chad where are you going on your break?’ He said ‘I don’t, but I’ll probably be open.’ (laughing). Which is great, I love it. That’s the kind of guy he is; he keeps everything light, and he’s really been a pleasure to work with so far.”

(On building chemistry with the receivers when he is splitting reps with the other quarterbacks) – “Well, right now I think it’s so early that we’re still learning. The chemistry will come, and I think the coaches know at that time when they need to make a decision to where the starting quarterback will be able to work with his guys all the time. But I think right now, like I said we’re early on and the time is not right for that right now. We’re working with young guys, older guys, we’re working with everybody, and how you overcome it is I think you use the time we have now to really focus on yourself. Learn the different wide receivers that you have in camp; some of the younger guys that you haven’t thrown to. And then when the time comes is when you really tighten down the screws and you trust that coaches will give you time, which they will to do that with the wide receivers.”

(On Les Brown) – “He has come a long way since spring. That’s a crazy story and the guy obviously is extremely talented physically. You throw balls to him on air or throw one-on-ones to him and he’s got a ton of speed. He’s another guy that just has that desire. I mean naturally anybody with a story like that, he knows he’s here to work hard and do those things, but like anybody else he has never blocked a guy like Cam Wake or something like that, which is difficult for a seasoned vet. So for a guy that was doing whatever he was doing last year to come in and at least attempt to do it is a huge thing, so he’s doing good and he’s going to continue to get better, I know that.

(On Chad Johnson’s painted fingernails and if it is common for receivers to paint their fingernails) – “Not for me. I haven’t seen much of it, but I think that each guy needs to be an individual, needs to be his own guy and kind of play within the rules of the team. As long as he catches the ball I don’t care what color his fingernails are.”

(On if he thinks Johnson will make the rookies paint their fingernails) – “Probably, I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to be a rookie position player, other than a quarterback. Quarterbacks seem to have it easy somewhat. But the other guys, I don’t know.”

(On if he has any plans for rookie hazing of Ryan Tannehill) – “Not from me. Maybe a little bit, but nothing crazy that you guys will hear about.” (On the types of hazing he would make Tannehill do, like fetching donuts) – “Yeah, stuff like that. I wouldn’t call that hazing, that’s just the way it goes, unless the o-line steps up and takes control of that, but the quarterbacks like I said are pretty easy going. David (Garrard) and I aren’t really the shave the head, shave the eyebrows kind of guys.”

(On the kinds of rookie hazing he has experienced) – “I mean, guys have to sing and things like that, but I didn’t have anything physically done to me.”